


By Our Works We Shall Destroy the Alien Threat!: Annotations

by quietprofanity



Series: By Our Works We Shall Destroy the Alien Threat! [2]
Category: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Genre: Author Commentary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-02-13 00:50:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12972108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quietprofanity/pseuds/quietprofanity
Summary: Annotations by chapter.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This will be the place in which I explain and thus make less funny all of the references and jokes in my fanfic “By Our Works Shall We Destroy the Alien Threat!” Annotations for a chapter will be released when the following chapter is complete. Enjoy!

**In a rowdy tavern tucked away in a nondescript California beach town**

The tavern is Jim and Kim’s from the 2017 viral video game _Dream Daddy_. Maple Bay, where the game/tavern is located, isn’t specifically named as a California town, but I thought it could have been possible location and this was the type of bar I wanted to open the story in. (I did consider the “Bang Bang Bar” from _Twin Peaks_ but it didn’t really fit the tone I wanted to establish.)

**The patrons at the other end of the bar -- a swarthy hispanic man in a leather jacket and a dour-looking pale woman wearing a cross**

These are two popular characters from _Dream Daddy_ , Robert Smalls and Mary Christiansen. (And yes, I do think Mary’s husband Joseph could potentially be one of those clean-cut gay/bi men who vote for Republicans.)

**President B.H. Tannen’s**

This is, of course, Biff Tannen of the _Back to the Future_ series. He’s the Trump analogue here given that _Back to the Future II_ writer Bob Gale recently said the character was inspired by Donald Trump. Snopes has said this may not be true as Trump wasn’t cited as a character inspiration until recently, but having watched the film I think it fits.

**Sal Gudman was an outsider to public office with a vague and sketchy yet somehow not-fully illegitimate resume. The gold pinky ring on his finger -- the perfect accessory to his loud ensemble of a blue pinstriped suit, turquoise shirt and pink paisley tie -- flashed as he talked with his hands to the press.**

This is Jimmy McGill, better known by his alias of Saul Goodman, from the acclaimed television shows _Breaking Bad_ and _Better Call Saul_. And yes, Goodman is actually an attorney, but given that the current administration often puts individuals into roles for which they are unqualified, I thought it fit. (And since Goodman often self-advertises it’s not completely out of his wheelhouse.)

**one of the reporters in the press pool -- a thin, white brunette with large dark eyes and a wide pink mouth.**

This is Andy Sachs (here called “Andi Sax”), the heroine from the book (and subsequent movie adaptation) _The Devil Wears Prada_. I assumed she would find better employment later on … and also forgot that _Revenge Wears Prada_ exists. What do you want from me? I think the book kind of sucks …

**A middle-aged, blonde white woman raised her pen. “Baldwin from the Telegraph.[”]**

Kate Baldwin, reporter at the _Wall Street Telegraph_ , is from the US version of _House of Cards_.

**... Senator Hundred saying he will not vote for the force field?**

Mitchell Hundred was a superhero-turned-mayor of New York City and star of the comic book series _Ex Machina_. The series ended with him becoming Vice President, but while taking up a senate position afterwards is a bit of a step down I don’t think it’s completely unbelievable. Also, he’s a perfect John McCain figure.

On a related note, I’ve tried to avoid Marvel or DC characters as I’m pretty sure Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill wouldn’t allow them in their universe given the circumstances but I figured non-Big Two superheroes were fine. I mean, characters from _Heroes_ have made appearances in canon ...

**Tannen reblogged a Cheeper user**

The television show _Steven Universe_ showed its characters using an analogue of Twitter where you “cheep” instead of “tweet.” It’s not specifically called “Cheeper” but I figured the name fit.

**He’s not a stuffed shirt like Secretary Nope.**

Pretty obvious choice, but our Hillary Clinton analogue is Leslie Knope, the idealistic public servant at the heart of the TV sitcom _Parks and Recreation_.

**She took another gulp of the wine she was drinking, stopping when a man wearing a colorful cartoon shirt, a rainbow afro and several piercings walked through the door. “Oh, here’s another one.”**

This is meant to be one of the several “Dadsonas”/Player Characters from _Dream Daddy_. I imagine the situation looks pretty fucked up in this universe.

**the news anchor -- a big-eyed, heavyset black man with an amused grin.**

This is intended to be one of the many fictional news anchors played by Jay Jackson, a real-life news anchor who is best known for playing _Parks and Recreation_ ’s Perd Hapley.

**The 80s star responded on her account @TrulyOutrageous, quote, ‘Almost 50 and still selling out concerts. You couldn’t fill the mall for your inauguration.’ Hashtag ‘YoureTheButthead.’ But the real shocker is that statement was soon re-cheepered by the account @OurSongsAreBetter with, ‘You tell ‘em, sister.’**

These characters are Jerrica “Jem” Benton of the band Jem and the Holograms and Phyllis “Pizzazz” Gabor of the band The Misfits (fictional version) from the 80s cartoon _Jem_. They both chose their catchphrases as their Cheeper handles.

**“I’m just saying that I don’t understand why Agatha has to be black in the _Simon Snow_ musical,”**

Simon Snow is a stand-in for the _Harry Potter_ series in the Young Adult novel _Fangirl_ by Rainbow Rowell. Agatha isn’t exactly a Hermione stand-in, but she is the franchise’s canon love interest. Her being cast as black in the musical is an equivalent to the casting controversy around the stage version of _Harry Potter and the Cursed Child_.

**Mina caught a young white man with reddish hair and a barely-there mustache monologuing to a bored, Aryan-looking woman who seemed too young for the bar.**

This “charming” young man is Kurt Fletcher, the racist bro-villain from the 2014 film _Dear White People_. His date’s identity will be revealed in the next chapter.

**Duff beers**

C’mon, you all know this one. (But it’s from _The Simpsons_.)

**The older one -- the one who looked like he was in his early 30s -- was a white man with hair that resembled the top of soft serve ice cream. He gave them both a lopsided grin.**

“Dr. James” is the title character from the early CGI animated kids’ series _Jimmy Neutron_. And, yeah, I’m probably being super-unfair to him in this fanfic, but every story needs a villain and in my defense that show is so darn boring (sorry, young Millennials!).

**The one in his early 20s, a pale man with black hair and eyes that looked vaguely Celestial -- wait, no, that word wasn’t acceptable anymore, she meant “Asian” -- seemed more surprised that they had come by.**

Yeah, Mina’s a little racist. Also, “Professor Rob” is Wilbur Robinson from the 2007 Disney film _Meet the Robinsons_. The movie doesn’t actually say so, but I figured given that weird samurai fight with his mother and uncle that the character was meant to be partially Japanese. Or maybe that’s just my headcanon.

**My name’s Vita and my friend here is Ellen.**

Orlando, of course, has used the Vita name before -- and as in the comic it’s a reference to Virginia Woolf’s lover Vita Sackville-West. Ellen was the name of the Mina analogue in the 1922 _Dracula_ film adaptation _Nosferatu_.

**a red Acme flying car**

Warner Brothers’ go-to company in several of their cartoon series for all your explosive and other needs.

**“... but does an apartment have a ball-pit and a Good Burger vending machine?”**

Yes, I actually did watch the _All That_ skits and 1997 film _Good Burger_ , home of the Good Burger, can I take your order?

**When they turned on, a bubbly, tall, blonde white woman in her thirties wearing a pink dress suit waved at them from the view screens.**

This may have become clear from the description of the building, but Deidre of D&D Labs is DeeDee from the cartoon _Dexter’s Laboratory_. She and her brother went into business together when they grew up.

**“I liked that one lady who interviewed with us. Ugh, what was her name? Something about monarchy and the woods? She wore skulls in her hair?”**

The lady they’re talking shit about is Kinga Forrester, the latest Mad from the 2017 _Mystery Science Theater 3000_ revival. No, I don’t know what cheesy movies she’s forcing Jonah to watch in this dimension, but I’m open to suggestions.

**posters for _Death Blow_ and _Action Doctor_ on the wall**

_Death Blow_ is an action movie and one of several fake films in the 1990s TV sitcom Seinfeld. _Action Doctor_ is one of several fake films headlined by Lucas Lee from the 2010 film _Scott Pilgrim vs. the World_.

**a white, redheaded teenage girl splayed out on a beanbag chair in the center of it all, her fingers furiously texting on a purple phone.“-- our summer intern.”**

D&D Labs “summer intern” is Summer Smith, the older grandchild/big sister of the title characters in the Adult Swim cartoon _Rick and Morty_.

**“Also, have either of you fixed the wi-fi on the coffee-maker yet or do I have to get Moonbucks for the scrum tomorrow morning?”**

Moonbucks has been used as a Starbucks analogue in at least two anime series -- _Code: Breaker_ and _Hataraku Maou-Sama!_. Also, I don’t really feel like citing every real-life controversy I make reference to here, but since this one is more obscure why not take some time to read about the Juicero.

**Rob’s hatred of some band called Du Jour was a particular thorn in James’ side**

I figured Jimmy Neutron would enjoy the boy-band pop-stylings of Du Jour (from the 2001 _Josie and the Pussycats_ movie) given how much boy band music was in his own movie.

**A punk song with slow, steady keyboard and a mournful lead singer whose gender Mina couldn’t determine played from the speakers.**

The song is a re-write of “The Origin of Love” from the title band of the musical _Hedwig and the Angry Inch_.

**dipped some Good Nuggets from the vending machine into their special sauce with her right. “You know,” the intern mumbled with a full mouth to the empty room. “ … I don’t see the hype.”**

OK, so everyone knows the fucking Szechuan Sauce fiasco that makes me embarrassed to wear any of my five _Rick and Morty_ shirts out in public, but I figured since the original _Good Burger_ film heavily centered around a secret sauce for the hamburgers it worked as a dual reference.

**the Queen of Old New Tokyo.**

This is Sailor Moon. She’s presumably at her Neo-Queen Serenity era at this point. I don’t know if we’ll ever get to this dimension’s version of Japan but it’s … interesting.

**a San Diego Channel Four News Reporter**

This is the station from the 2004 Judd Apatow/Will Ferrell film _Anchorman_.

**The TV flickered to show live footage Senator Pelekai of Hawaii yelling on the Senate Floor.**

This is Nani Pelekai, the older sister of the title character in the 2002 Disney film _Lilo & Stitch_. … She’s moved up in the world.

**Senator Keaton?**

This is Alex P. Keaton from the 1980s sitcom _Family Ties_. Another Michael J. Fox sitcom, _Spin City_ established in a throwaway line that Keaton had become a Senator.

**An older man with greying blond hair sat with his hands folded over a newsdesk as he scolded the viewers.**

This is Will McAvoy from the early-2010s television show _The Newsroom_. I am perhaps unfair to this character but on the other hand I have no idea how anyone tolerated this fucking show.

**The screen flickered to show what -- by the swaying of the camera -- looked like a TubeTube video. A young, white boy with black curly hair wearing a shirt with a large star held the camera as he walked through his house.**

This is, of course, Steven Universe. He’s used the YouTube analogue TubeTube on his show a few times.

**a controversial follower of the white supremacist movement Neo-Hynkelism**

This is already _League_ canon, but Adenoid/Adenoyd Hynkel of the Charlie Chaplin film _The Great Dictator_ being the universe’s stand-in for Hitler/Nazism has already been established.

**I’m Agent C of the HIB.**

There were hints of this throughout the chapter (most notably the osprey being one of her signature morphs in the book series and the HTML-brackets being used for her message to the “summer intern”), but this is Cassie, the last surviving member of the team from the book series _Animorphs_. She’s since joined up as a member of the renamed _Men in Black_ , as you can maybe tell from her use of a memory wipe and two noisy crickets. _Men in Black_ was actually a comic book before it became a TV series, but I’m using movie canon here for obvious reasons.


	2. Chapter 2

**Inside the car, the white, male driver wearing a black suit and sunglasses collapsed and folded up into the steering wheel.**

The very fast, self-driving cars with fake (and specifically white male) drivers were used in the _Men in Black_ movies.

**Agent C whirled the guns around in her hands so the butts were facing toward Mina and Orlando, then moved them both to one hand and reached beneath the neck of her bodysuit to reveal a tight silver necklace with a button in the center. When she pressed it, the guns disappeared. “Let’s put those back in the pocket universe.["] ...Outside of the car Agent C tapped again on her pocket universe necklace. A black ladies’ pantsuit with a white dress shirt and black flats appeared on her body.**

As far as I know the _Men in Black_ movies didn't specifically use pocket universes, but I figured that was a broad enough fictional concept at this point that they could just have one. Anyway, it was a nice workaround for the big flaw in the Animorphs' powers ... they can't include any nonorganic matter beyond very skintight clothing in their morphs.

**“The San Francisco office of the HIB,” Agent C called to the backseat. “You may have heard of us by another name, but we’ve gotten more egalitarian lately … even if we got some pushback for the name as too human-centric. But I guess that’s all water under the bridge now.”**

The original film takes place in New York City, of course, but I figured it wasn't out of the question for the organization to have satellite offices ... especially if they're spending time messing with the U.S.'s southern border patrol.

**The main foyer of the HIB headquarters was enormous -- several stories high and overseen by a large screen about five stories tall showing a map of the world and close-ups of dozens of human faces. Two octopus-like beings, each with a single eye on a stalk and extra fingers at the end of their tentacles, manned the control panel.**

This is a pretty similar setup to the headquarters in the first movie, including the alien twins (Bweryang and Bob) doing observation.

**A huge line of aliens snaked throughout the foyer.**

OK, let's see if I can remember all my references from when I wrote this part months ago (whoops!).

**a man with pointed ears here**

Easy one -- a Vulcan from _Star Trek_.

**a woman with rainbow hair there**

A Saturnian from the short-lived Canadian kids' sci-fi show _Space Cases_.

**broad-shouldered men with thick black hair and ridged foreheads**

OK, sue me. I went back to the _Star Trek_ well and added Klingons.

**people whose bald heads were spotted and sported ridges along their red eyes**

Narns from J. Michael Straczynski's sci-fi TV series _Babylon 5_.

**gorgeous women with blue skin and tentacles for hair.**

Asari from the video game series _Mass Effect_

**Green and blue gelatinous blobs**

This probably applies to a lot of different types of aliens, but I was probably thinking of the Yokians from the _Jimmy Neutron_ movie and B.O.B. from the 2009 film _Monsters vs. Aliens_ ... I might have forgotten that the latter is a monster and not an alien.

**tall mantis-people**

Gromflomites from _Rick and Morty_.

**flying jellyfish made of energy**

Again, this probably applies to a lot of different things, but I was thinking of the Rutans from _Doctor Who_.

**Agent C cut with confidence through the lines, leaving Mina and Orlando to awkwardly push their way past gruesome tentacled beasts and humanoids with rubbery heads.**

This is meant to be a generic statement ... no really. No reference this time.

**At one point, she stopped short in front of an Asian-looking man with horns and an Indian-looking woman with green hair and tiny wings, but when she saw the child near their feet she breathed a sigh of relief and said “Oh, good for you.”**

These are the main protagonists from Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples' comic book series _Saga_. The dad and mom are Marko and Alana, and they're from a warring planet and its moon, which makes the existence of their daughter Hazel problematic in their own storyline but assures Agent C that these two rival races aren't going to start a fight.

**Then, later in the line, a furry, blue centaur-like creature with a long tail whose end resembled a scalpel stopped her short.**

This is an Andalite, a member of the main ally alien species in _Animorphs_. Agent C knows she's female because of the shape of her tail. (Male tails look like scorpion stingers.)

**Mina saw what looked like a perfectly normal human family of an older man, an attractive young blonde woman, and two younger men -- one of whom had his eyes perpetually closed, arguing with the customs agent.**

These are the Solomons, the secret alien expedition team/family from the late 1990s-early 2000s sitcom _3rd Rock from the Sun_.

**“Oh please, please, you can’t let us stay on here!” the older man begged. “We were just meeting an old friend -- it was one of those reunions that everyone talks about but that never gets off the ground.["]**

Dick is referring here to his human ex-girlfriend Mary Albright.

**“Ugh, will you quit being a drama-queen and stop holding up the line?” heckled a short gray alien with a smooth, hairless body. He sipped on the martini glass he was holding.**

This is Roger from the Seth MacFarlane cartoon series _American Dad!_ and as a side note I cannot fucking believe that show has 15 fucking seasons.

**A black man with a thin mustache and closed-cropped hair, wearing a black three-piece suit and sunglasses, sat behind the modern, glass-and-metal desk.**

This is obviously Agent J, who was played by Will Smith in the _Men in Black_ film series, now promoted to the head of the organization.

**Orlando shook her head. “Wait, wait … we’ve had alien attacks in all countries since the first Martian Invasion. What’s the point of a secret society to deal with them?”**

Trying to reconcile different canons into a cohesive whole is fun ... sometimes. OK, I wouldn't be wasting my time on this low-readership fanfic if it wasn't fun.

**"You think after we beat off Martians and carnivorous plants and giant seed pods every other year in the 1950s we were going to roll out the red carpet for every creepy-looking motherfucker with a spaceship?["]**

Ahh, the 1950s Cold War-influenced sci-fi movie genre. Specific references here include the 1953 _War of the Worlds_ , _The Thing from Another World_ and the 1956 version of _The Invasion of the Body Snatchers_. More on the first in a little bit.

**Hell, even if we did, we couldn’t guarantee that their definition of diplomacy wouldn’t involve eating us -- I mean, that actually happened once.**

This refers to the Damon Knight short story/famous _Twilight Zone_ episode "To Serve Man."

**Mina frowned. “If I may, I submit that’s the mentality that led to us poisoning thousands in the first Martian War.”**

**“And every subsequent Martian invasion after that. I totally remember -- even the U.S. government was rolling out the latest strain of Dr. Moreau’s old anthrax and calling it flu season,” Jay leaned forward on his desk, his elbows out wide and his hands clasped together.**

So, since  _Century_ established that adaptations of works sometimes co-exist with their originals, I figured the radio/film adaptations of  _War of the Worlds_ since H.G. Wells' novel, most taking place in America, were still fair game.

**It got us in trouble now and then -- we had a pair of FBI agents breathing down our necks half the time, and sometimes they beat us to the latest small-scale alien shit -- but usually we had it covered.**

The two agents in question are Fox Mulder and Dana Scully from the long-running sci-fi/horror series  _The X-Files_.

**Do you think a government that doesn’t care about the differences between two different sets of people with pointy ears from the other side of the galaxy gives two shits about the differences between all the Muslim countries in the Middle East?**

I was specifically thinking about the Vulcans and Romulans from  _Star Trek_ here.

**There are a couple of scientists vying for the chance to get that force-shield up and running, and we’re pretty sure that their boss Doctor Dex is the guy coming the closest to pulling it off.**

I realized this is Dexter from  _Dexter's Laboratory_ 's first actual name-drop. ... Kinda.

**“Were you that blonde, white teenager?” ... “It’s, uh, the face of an old friend,” Agent C said, her voice laden with regret.**

This refers to Rachel from  _The Animorphs_ , the other main female member of the team who died in the final book, _The Beginning_. In an earlier book, _The Reaction_ , Rachel developed an allergy to a crocodile morph (yes, yes, this series could get a little silly at times) which caused her to lose control of her powers. Cassie helped her out by taking Rachel as one of her morphs and transforming into her for a public appearance.

**Three men -- the first wearing a cowboy hat and bolo tie, the second blocky glasses with thick colorful frames, and a third wearing a pinstripe suit -- stood behind him, acting as official security and de facto intimidation.**

These guys are Match, 3-D and Skinhead, who've acted as Biff Tannen's gang in the first and second  _Back to the Future_ movies. Their looks here are specifically based on their 1985 alternate history outfits from  _Back to the Future II_.

**On one of the couches sat a perturbed-looking Gudman, on the other sat a blond white man with a bad haircut, salt-and-pepper beard and a rumpled shirt beneath a blazer who Mina recognized as the President’s chief strategist.**

This is Brett O'Keefe, the Steve Bannon/Alex Jones/James O'Keefe pastiche from the American spy thriller TV series  _Homeland_.

**From the opposite side of the room, a labcoat-wearing man with a strange, triangular face topped with a patch of brown hair pontificated in front of a force field diagram.**

This is Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, the goofy villain of the late 2000s to mid 2010s kids' TV series  _Phineas and Ferb_. I have to say this show has never appealed to me (my roommate used to watch it on repeat and never laugh, which was vaguely disturbing to me), but I had a lot of fun writing this guy.

**You are totally going to pay me all of the money you owe me or at least enough that I can stash away to pay for my daughter’s doctorate before the higher education system implodes.**

This refers to Heinz's daughter Vanessa Doofenshmirtz. She's around the age where she'd be in college/grad school now, I think.

**I personally fought a sentient platypus for years so I don’t think anyone in this room cares about endangered species**

Dr. Doofenshmirtz's long-running feud with Perry the Platypus is well-known.

**Just, like, give us your response to our RFP and we’ll go with the cheap one.**

OK, I snuck a little jargon in here. An RFP is a "request for proposals" and the government asking for private contractors to give them an offer for a project along specific lines is a common (that sometimes breeds fun moments of corruption, but also infrastructure). Anyway, Tannen's an idiot but I figured he has enough background in real estate/asking for variances from environmental laws that he'd know what that is.

**“I’m saying, dipshit, that if you’re not smart enough to figure it out then you can make like an ameoba and get the fuck out of my office.”**

**“‘Make like an ameoba …’” the scientist thought for a minute, then shook his head.**

... and split.

**I had a cousin who was part of the scheme that ended the July 4th invasion, and a lot of people still wonder how the hell the United States pulled it off that easily because by all accounts a species with advanced space travel should have had decent virus protection.**

This refers, of course, to the 1996 film  _Independence Day_ , which also starred Will Smith as Marine pilot Capt. Steven Hiller, and its oft-criticized climax. I did worry about calling it the July 4th invasion because the aliens technically showed up on July 2nd, but then again the War of 1812 lasted a lot longer than that.

**We tried it with some Egyptian guy and ended up having to mind-wipe him after he sold us out and spent months re-building our own infrastructure.**

This refers to Elliot Anderson from the hacker thriller TV series  _Mr. Robot_ (who is played by Egyptian-American Rami Malek).

**If you want to say no, you’re going to see a little red flashing light and then neither of you will remember this happened.**

This is the famous mind-wipe device called the neuralyzer (which Cassie/Agent C used on Summer Smith/the summer intern last chapter) from  _Men in Black_.

**["]I know y’all got your own troubles back across the pond but I’m guessing you’re not too fond of how he’s hyping up Urkhardt and that Bastard guy or all those other racist politicians freaking out about the Q’mar refugees."**

Both UK Conservative Party politicians, Urkhardt is Francis Urquhart is from the UK version of the TV drama series  _House of Cards_ and "that Bastard guy" is Alan B'stard from the late Rik Mayall's 1980s-1990s political satire show  _The New Statesman_. They're basically meant to stand in for UKIP dorks and their enablers like Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson, respectively. Q'Mar is a Middle Eastern country from the American TV series  _The West Wing_ , and it features in the opening of the 2009 chapter of  _Century_ in which Orlando had been fighting in an Iraq-like eternal war there.

 


End file.
